Portsmouth boys blast CBNA

By MIKE O’NEIL

Portsmouth Herald

fosters.com

By MIKE O’NEIL

Portsmouth Herald

Posted Feb. 13, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By MIKE O’NEIL

Portsmouth Herald

Posted Feb. 13, 2013 at 3:15 AM

PORTSMOUTH — If you need a quick sampling of how things are going for the Portsmouth High School boys basketball team, just take a look at Nick Mackey’s effort late in Tuesday’s game against Coe-Brown.

With the Clippers well ahead and less than four minutes to go, Mackey slipped past three Coe-Brown players to win a loose ball. While diving to the floor to gain possession, the Portsmouth guard flipped a pass up court to a streaking Charlie Lehoux for an easy two points.

It’s that kind of effort that helped the Clippers win their eighth straight game, 92-46, over the Bears at Stone Gymnasium.

Whether it’s Patrick Glynn coming all the way across court to keep a rebound alive for a quick fast break — or Devin Husslage, coming off the bench in the fourth quarter to score 18 points, all by driving the ball hard to the basket — the Clippers have hustled to a 10-2 mark in Division II.

“The effort the last couple weeks has really been great,” said Portsmouth coach Jim Mulvey. “The kids are really gaining that confidence and you can see it coming together. It really is a tribute to the work they’re putting in.”

It’s pretty easy to play with a certain swagger when you hit 14 of your first 19 shots even before the pregame music has a chance to run out of the building.

Coming off a 26-point night against Oyster River last Tuesday, Ben Landry hit a 3-pointer to open the game and set the tone. Portsmouth hit its first five shots and jumped out to a 12-6 lead.

“I really don’t think that team ever misses,” said Bears coach David Smith, whose team dropped a 78-48 decision to the Clippers earlier this season. “They shot the lights out against us in the first game and they came out and did it again tonight.”

Coe-Brown lost its fourth game in six outings, falling to 8-5 on the season.

“We haven’t played really well for the last couple weeks or so,” said Smith. “Each season, you have the peaks and valleys, but this is the low point.”

The Clippers, who scored at least 78 points for the sixth time this season, shot 11-for-14 from the field in the first quarter and 34-for-56 (61 percent) for the game. Husslage (18 points) and Colin MacDonald (17) led five Portsmouth players in double figures. Landry (13), Glynn (12) and Donovan Phanor (11) were the others.

“Colin came out and had a big first quarter for us,” said Mulvey. “He came out hot, had nine points, and we really went from there.”

The Clippers will not have a lot of time to enjoy the win, as they return to the court tonight in Windham.

“We’re right back at it,” said Mulvey. “Windham is a very good team at home, and this is the first time we’ve played back-to-back, so it’s going to be a good test for us.”

But with the Clipper offense continuing to click on all cylinders, it was the Portsmouth defense that caught the attention of Mulvey.

“You know what, it’s the defense that really made things happen,” said Mulvey. “We gave up eight points in the third quarter with different rotations, and we responded with a 24-point quarter on the other end.”